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Published: August 18th 2009
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Jen and I waiting for the tour busFor 17th August, 2009
Well I wasn’t joking about my photos in Hong Kong looking like I had just come out of a sauna!!! 33 degrees and God know what level of humidity! It has been so unbelievably HOT here - the kind of heat that blankets you the moment you step outside of the air-conditioned building, causes your body to become clammy then profusely sweating within minutes, and restricts your breathing so that shallow and somewhat laboured breathing is all you can manage! So that said, the ‘glow’ that you see on me is really perspiration at its best! Sincere apologies!!
The city is amazing, however, and the hour long drive from the airport to our hotel on Hong Kong Island, afforded us a spectacular introduction to Hong Kong in all its lit up glory! The people of Hong Kong too are wonderful, and we are yet to meet ONE person who does not offer a smile and/or assistance when needed (well apart from some fellow 'western' tourists that is!!) Our complimentary half day tour of Hong Kong Island today was fabulous, as was our trip tonight to the Temple Street markets. The place was abuzz with people
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On a Sai Pan - from those buying and selling their wares, to locals who were eating at the many pavement eateries.
Today was not without its hiccups however. We were yelled at by an arrogant tour member (who I am ashamed to say was Australian), after apparently sitting in his seat!! Who knew there were specified seats??!! No-one else on the bus that’s for sure, and certainly not the people who were sitting in the seats that WE had previously been sitting in! Then, starving hungry at 2.30 p.m., after not having had opportunity to sit for lunch (with our body clocks still thinking it was 4.30 p.m.!), we were hot, frustrated and looking for somewhere to eat, so ended up going upstairs to a Dim Sum restaurant, only to find that we were the ONLY Westerners there, and that nobody spoke English! After about 20 minutes and much pointing, we managed to order something (although we were not entirely sure exactly WHAT - even AFTER having eaten it!). Andy was none too keen on trying most of it and with temperatures soaring (along with temperaments) we headed for the nearest English Pub for a cold beer (or two)!! It was jam
packed with UK ex-pats but we were able to get a table and a few cold ones, so all was starting to look up! The girls from the bar even started bringing around plates of Hors D'Oeuvres, much to our delight, and we were just discussing how they obviously take their responsible serving of alcohol very seriously here when one loud Scotsman approached us and informed us that we had walked in on a ‘wake’!!! A local Police Officer’s none-the-less!!! And here we were, drinks in hand, laughing away and munching on free hot nibblies!!!! Well, really…how were we to know??!!! You would have thought they would have closed the Pub for a private function!! But if that wasn’t bad enough, no sooner had he told us than the grieving family then arrived with wreaths and all, and we were sitting at their table!!!! No wonder there had been a great table spare in the middle of an otherwise packed Pub!!! It was all starting to make sense now - so we downed our drinks, gave our condolences, and made a speedy exit!!!
I wonder what excitement tomorrow will hold...
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DaveAmina
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Fancy crashing a wake! That gave me a great chuckle after a hard day of marking at the computer in my stuffy office. So much for maternity leave eh?! Sending you all love and missing you lots! Will keep you posted on baby movements...two false starts has left me VERY VERY cranky! Hmph! Lots of love, Amina and Dave (and Cadence and Oli). xxx